If you are wondering who is leading the world when it comes to the medical advancements, just keep reading our article on most medically advanced countries in the world in 2018, and you’ll get your answer.
The amount of cash poured into medical analysis on a daily basis is incredible. Countries around the world pay big money for finding cures for the world’s most threatening diseases. In an exceeding span of 30 years, having an HIV went from a definite death sentence to a manageable condition. Moreover, most of the cancer varieties are treatable these days, especially if caught early. However, despite all the funds spent on advancing drugs, typically the progress is painfully slow. If we check out the rankings of top 10 countries with the best healthcare in 2017 in best healthcare in the world 2017 reports, Japan and China, for example, accounted for 13.8 % and 3.1 % of the world’s total medical research spending. After all, these countries saw a surge in investment from the private sector. According to The Guardian, Japan’s investment in the medical sector increased by $20 billion in just 5 years, and when it comes to China, investments rose from $1.5 billion in 2007 to $6.3 billion in 2012. For years, the USA was the number one on the lists of most advanced countries in medicine. However, nowadays advanced medical technology has redesigned and developed healthcare systems in Asian and European countries as well, and some shifts on the lists of most medically advanced countries are a possible outcome.
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Unfortunately, the quality of the healthcare is not same everywhere, and different models of healthcare are used around the world. That’s why there are many parts of the world where population have less access or no access at all to the medical facilities thus facing the worst healthcare in the world. In some of the countries, like the USA, advanced medical facilities and fantastically trained personnel don’t guarantee equal access to quality healthcare to their citizens. That’s why the USA has not positioned that well in healthcare rankings by country. But, let’s put aside debate on whether the universal healthcare in the United States could happen, and get back to our topic. But first, do check out 10 Most Advanced Countries in Medicine we wrote a while ago, compare it to our today’s lists and see if there are some major shifts in rankings. We are sure that people with serious medical conditions from around the world would be grateful to live in one of these countries. So, today we are talking about the medical progress. Plainly put, about the countries that have the foremost impact in advancing the medical sector. Also, the list is heavily dominated by what we tend to call the first world countries, primarily EU and North America countries, with few notable exceptions.
To make the list and rank the most medically advanced countries in the world in 2018, we have collected the data from US News, USAToday, The Guardian, to name a few. We also checked Prosperity Index’s health sub-index. The countries which are the most medically advanced, according to their research spending and medical equipment, rank higher on our list. The countries with the lowest research spending are positioned lower on the list.
Shall we proceed?
15. Canada
We start our list of the most medically advanced countries in the world in 2018 with Canada. The country’s national healthcare system is known as Medicare. It’s publicly-funded, and it provides universal healthcare to all Canadian citizens. It’s no wonder this country ended up on our list considering recent reports on medical breakthroughs regarding the use of marijuana as a medicine. Moreover, have you heard about Toronto Health Innovation Week “where health means business”? It’s probably the largest health investor gathering in the country, where hospitals and research institutes are given an opportunity to bring their (medical) ideas to life.
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14. Qatar
Qatar is a very rich country and the richest among all the countries in the Middle East. Besides breakthroughs in stroke prediction, the research team from Qatar University discovered a new drug that can treat male infertility.
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13. France
France has one of the best healthcare systems in Europe. It is not surprising to see this country placed on our list.
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12. Norway
When it comes to the medical care of its citizens, you should know that this country is covering more than 80% of total healthcare costs with its healthcare system. Together with Switzerland and the U.S., it is spending more of its GDP on healthcare system than other countries in the world.
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11. Belgium
Belgium is one of the top 20 countries when it comes to the life expectancy of their citizens. Their average life expectancy is 81.1 years. The use of the medical software is on the rise in the country, and patients with chronic diseases can stay at home and improve their quality of life.
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10. The United Kingdom
Considering this country is Europe’s third largest market for medical technology and that there are around 3,700 companies in the medical technology sector that produce different diagnostic technologies and medical devices generating a turnover of 21 billion GBP, it doesn’t come as a surprise it’s ranked 10th on our list.
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9. Germany
This country is considered as one of the world’s largest providers and exporters of healthcare products. Moreover, it’s second behind the U.S. when it comes to the new patent registrations.
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8. The USA
It is surprising that the world’s leader in mostly everything ranks lower than other smaller countries on our list. The country’s healthcare system has its downsides as we already mentioned. As for the latest update on the subject of medical innovations, check out this website.
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7. Israel
Israel has the most advanced medical system in the Middle East. The country ranks seventh on our list of most medically advanced countries in the world in 2018. It also ranks 6th on the highest life expectancy list.
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6. Sweden
Sweden scores highest among the northern European countries on our list. It’s also high on the health and quality of life country rankings. The latest news regarding the treatment of cancer, infection, etc., is that Swedish scientists managed to create DNA nanowires which are supposed to be of great use when it comes to the simultaneous measuring of hundreds of biological processes.
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5. Hong Kong
Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China is very advanced when it comes to the medicine and healthcare. The population of 7.3 million people is treated in 11 private and 42 specialized public hospitals.
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4. The Netherlands
The Netherlands ranks fourth on our list of most medically advanced countries in the world in 2018. Besides being mandatory, healthcare in this country is covered by four forms insurance, and it’s ranked as the best in Europe.
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3. Switzerland
Switzerland ranks third on our list of most medically advanced countries in the world in 2018. It is a rich, beautiful and incredibly healthy country. The research scientists from Basel are the world’s leaders when it comes to the minimally invasive treatments of bones. If you thought that there’s no place for virtual reality in medicine, you couldn’t be more wrong, as these innovations are the future of medicine.
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2. Singapore
Singapore is another small country like Hong Kong with a very advanced healthcare system. They are at the top of the Prosperity Index’s health sub-index. Singapore has 5.6 million people, and their average life expectancy is 84 years.
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1. Luxembourg
Luxembourg ranks first on our list of 15 most medically advanced countries in the world in 2018. It’s a very small country in Europe surrounded by France, Germany, and Belgium. They ranked top on the Prosperity Index’s health sub-index, as the scientists in this country are specializing in the fields of diagnostics, personalized medicine and bioinformatics.
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